Friday, April 8, 2011

I’m strong to da finish cuz I eats me spinach……

Photo by www.popeye.com

Picture this….1947….Columbia, Missouri….Grant School.Cafeteria A lovely young 1st grader (okay, maybe not lovely in her glasses and braids, but sort of cute…) was standing in line, tray in hand. The unsmiling cooks, and I use the term loosely, were standing behind the steam table, dishing up the “torture du jour” that they referred to as “lunch”. The little girl hesitantly raises her tray to receive her plate….Oh God! There it is….a hotdog (gray and wrinkled, pulled from a huge vat of his gray and wrinkled brothers), no bun or catsup, no mustard or relish. (sigh….)
Moving down the line, a pot of evil looking brownish red stuff waited for her to lift her tray once again…..
”NO thank you!”
“Young Lady, hold your tray up NOW!”
“But I don’t like stewed tomatoes”
“TRAY!”
“whimper…….”
A large spoonful of overcooked tomatoes was “slopped” onto her plate, the juices running over to the gray hotdog, swirling around her plate as she moved forward again.
“TRAY!”
“whimper…..”
Her least favorite food in the entire world loomed ahead….NO, NOT AGAIN!
SPINACH! She didn’t care what Popeye said, Spinach was horrible! GAG!
Plop….now, gray hot dog and brownish red tomatoes swam in a pool of olive drab spinach juice….
One last addition to her tray…a slice of pasty white bread, carelessly tossed into the swirling liquids.
Yuck! Could she possibly survive through the lunch? Would they poison her here in the cafeteria? Would she ever see her parents again?

Yes, I did survive….but I have never forgotten the menu, the appearance, the taste of those school lunches. It is a strong possibility that those lunches influenced me in my career choice. A good chef would never NEVER serve such food! No chef would ever EVER let food look like those lunches!
Spinach was such a dreaded veggie when I was a little girl. It came in a can, all brownish green and drab. Today, both fresh and frozen spinach are available 12 months of the year. And there are thousands of ways to prepare it.

Here are some of my favorite recipes using spinach, fresh or frozen.
First, my very favorite recipe using spinach. This is a Northern Italian recipe, from around Lake Como where my ancestors are from.

For the crust: Place the flour into the food processor with the 5 ounces of cold butter and a pinch of salt. Pulse the machine repeatedly to cut in the butter. Add 1 egg, pulse to lightly blend. Add cold wine. Barely blend.
On a floured surface, work the dough with your hands to pull it together into a block. Do Not Knead!
Chill for at least 1 hour. Butter a 9” springform pan.
When dough is chilled, roll out half of it into a round large enough to cover bottom of pan and up the sides of the prepared pan. Leave an overhang of dough at top of pan. Brush entire surface of dough with beaten egg..
To assemble the pie: Drain the red peppers. In a bowl, toss the chopped and well drained spinach with 2 tablespoons of melted butter, 1/3 cup of cream and 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese.
In the following order, line the bottom of the pie with 1/3 of the sliced ham, 1/3 of the spinach mixture, 1/3 of the salami, 1/3 of the red peppers, 1/3 of the provolone.
Repeat layering in same order two more times.
Roll out the top crust. Moisten the overhang of the bottom crust before laying the top crust over the filling. Seal the crust by pinching the top and bottom crusts together, then carefully trim the excess of dough, not too closely to pan. If you wish to decorate the top of pie, use beaten egg to attach decorations cut from trimmings of dough. Brush entire top of crust with beaten egg, prick top of crust. Bake at 375 degrees until deep golden brown.
Allow to cool completely before serving. Slice into thin wedges as an appetizer, or thicker wedges for a light lunch entrée. Always serve at room temperature.

In large bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, un-dissolved yeast and salt. Heat milk and water until very warm (120º to 130ºF); gradually stir into dry ingredients. Stir in 1 egg and enough remaining flour to make soft dough. Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 4 to 6 minutes. Cover; let rest 10 minutes.

Divide dough in half. Knead Cheddar cheese into one half of dough; set aside. Knead spinach and Parmesan cheese into remaining half of dough. (Spinach dough may be slightly sticky and need additional flour.) Roll each to 15-inch rope. Arrange ropes side by side; twist together. Pinch ends to join. Place on greased large baking sheet. Cover; let rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 30 to 45 minutes.

Lightly beat remaining egg; brush on top of dough. Bake at 375ºF for 20 to 25 minutes or until done. Remove from pan; cool on wire rack. Leftover bread should be stored, wrapped airtight, in refrigerator or freezer.

Preheat oven to 350º. Grease a 9" × 12" baking dish. Make a single layer of bread cubes in dish. Cover evenly with spinach and sliced mushrooms. Sprinkle with Cheddar cheese. Make another layer of bread cubes. Whisk together eggs, milk and seasonings. Pour over layers making sure that all of top layer of bread is moistened. (At this point dish can be refrigerated overnight Bake for 1 hour until puffed and lightly browned. A knife inserted in the center should come out clean. 10 minutes before serving, sprinkle with jack cheese and return to oven to melt.
Makes 6-8 servings.

Line a 9-inch pie pan with the pastry and press the edges of the crust with a fork to seal it to the pie dish. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate while you prepare the sauce.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and stir in the ground beef, turkey sausage, and 1 clove of minced garlic. Cook and stir until the meat is crumbly, evenly browned, and no longer pink. Drain and discard any excess grease. Add the onion, red bell pepper, and mushrooms and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is soft and translucent and the mushrooms have given off their liquid, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining garlic and cook for 30 seconds.

Stir in the tomato paste, water, salt, basil, and oregano and bring the sauce to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Preheat an oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).

Line the chilled pie crust with a double thickness of aluminum foil. Bake for 9 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the bottom of the crust is set, about 7 more minutes (see Editor's Note for tips). Remove from the oven and set aside. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Combine the spinach, ricotta, and 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese. Spoon the filling into the baked crust. Top with the meat mixture. Cover the edges of the pie crust with foil to prevent over-browning, place the pie on a baking sheet, and bake for 45 minutes.

Remove the pie from the oven. Top the meat mixture with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, chopped tomatoes, and sliced olives. Return it to the oven and bake until the cheese is melted, about 10 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving